Advice on Saws Please

dean2371

I'm assembling tools to start my first proper build with and for my son. We made an MDF template today, looking good!.

My question is about saws. I have a Bosch jigsaw which is quite low powered and ok for cutting MDF but not thick hard wood. I've been looking at band saws. Most of those costing less than £100 get poor reviews. I can't see that I will be making industrial quantities of guitars, so spending hundreds of pounds seems excessive. I'm looking on ebay and Gumtree but there aren't many in my neck of the woods (Bristol/Cardiff).

Is there a minimum spec I should be going for? What about a better quality jigsaw; would that work? Despite my almost complete lack of woodworking experience I managed to keep a steady hand on the template, admittedly only 9mm MDF though.

Any advice from the more experienced builders?

Thanks
Simon

octatonic

Can you justify getting a bandsaw?

You get something in the order of 1000x* the level of control from a bandsaw than you do with anything handheld.

*Ok, not 1000x, but quite a bit.

Sporky

Good bandsaws can't be made for bargain prices, unfortunately. There are some steals secondhand though.

If I was buying new I'd go for this - http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-trade-series-sbw4300b-bandsaw-prod884523/

There are a lot of tales of woe on Project Guitar etc where people have bought underpowered stuff - it's generally money down the drain.

It'd be worth seeing if there's anyone nearby who has suitable machinery - cheaper to apply some beer tokens when you need access...

TTony

Depends on how many you think you'll be making, IMHO.

If you've managed to cut out the template (presumably the jigsaw and some sanding?), that's the important thing.  You'll use the template with a router and bearing guided bit to create the accurate shape from the (hopefully accurate!) template, so you only need to be able to rough-cut the body blank.

However, the closer you can rough-cut the body blank, the better, as that'll leave the router a lot less work to do (which is a good thing!).

You might even be able to rough-cut it with a handsaw, particularly if you're only going to be doing one.

Misterg

I've got a Bosch jigsaw with the pendulum action (little lever down on the left hand side), and it works surprisingly well for thick wood *provided* you don't try and cut too fast. A nice, new, decent quality blade helps, too.

Since you're making templates, I assume you'll be using a router to finish the outline - you could go straight for the router without trimming the blank and cut the shape out in several passes. (Probably easier with a guide collar on the router and
a suitably undersized template.)

I also bought a cheap bandsaw, and was pleasantly surprised with what it could do, but the lack of throat depth made cutting even half a body awkward.

GuitarMonkey

My Bosch jigsaw cuts 45mm ash, alder and mahogany blanks with no trouble at all.

Put a new blade (of the correct type, i.e coarse teeth) in and don't try to cut too fast.

dean2371

Thanks for all the advice folks; you can tell I'm new to this!

i'm leaning towards a Jigsaw I think. Would any of these be up to the job? All seem to have suitable maximum cutting depths, but is there anything else to look out for?

http://www.diy.com/nav/fix/power-tools/saws/jigsaws/Bosch-PST-900-Pel-Compact-Jigsaw-10957573

http://www.diy.com/nav/fix/power-tools/saws/jigsaws/Mac-Allister-Laser-Pendulum-Jigsaw-MJS750L-750W-12389434

http://www.diy.com/nav/fix/power-tools/saws/jigsaws/Black-and-Decker-520W-Auto-select-Jigsaw-10477539

Cheers

TTony

Mac A has the highest power and longest guarantee.

But I'd suggest heading down to B&Q (if that's where you're going to buy it from - I wouldn't normally recommend anyone going to B&Q for anything) and just picking them up to see which is the most comfortable in the hand, and which seems the most solid.

dean2371

Thanks TTony. Where would you recommend?

Misterg

What about the one you already have?

dean2371

It only takes blades with a "U" shape fitting (if that makes sense) and I haven't been able to find long enough blades. All the suitable ones seem to have bayonet fittings